What If Pink Floyd Had Been Funky?

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And no -- they weren't. They had their moments, though. But as I was listening to "Echoes" this morning, as it got to the bit w/ the groove and the organ (right before the whale-song part), I was wondering if their post-Barrett material would have been held in higher esteem had they really known how to lay down a groove...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Not even in a parallell universe are Pink Floyd got da fonk...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Luckily they were never.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:42 (twenty-two years ago)

This explains now why I fell asleep listening to them so many times.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

they may not have been funky but they sure were Acieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!

― Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:01 (twenty-two years ago)

seven-legged aliens find "Money" quite funky

― Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:02 (twenty-two years ago)

"Have a Cigar" is . . . a funkish approximation

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Of course the Floyd got tha funk! They even called a song in Atom Heart Mother "Funky Dung."

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Did they not make Animals?

― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Wait, they did have a little bit O' funk in 'em, huh? Like the pedestrian guitar riffery in The Wall! dunk dukadunk dukadunk dukadunk

Mind: blown.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

"Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2" is disco. I guess that may be considered funky in some way or another.

At their best they were never funky though.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

hmmm, guess that wouldn't include "Echoes", "On The Run" or "Run Like Hell" then?

― Paul (scifisoul), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't consider any of those among their best moments, no.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, I dunno. I don't think Bootsy Collins lost any sleep over it, but some of Waters' basslines had the odd bit of funk to them.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Again, though: what if they'd actually BEEN funky as opposed to having been lightly seasoned w/ the funk. Imagine how different we'd see them...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, let's remember....they were four (or five, if you still count Syd) exceptionally funkless, pale, acne-speckled whiteboys from the funk-famined environs of mid-60's England. One should't expect them to be the Brothers Johnson or Brass Construction.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Syd Barrett! Get on the one!

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't even know what I was trying to say with that.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Made me laugh.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:40 (twenty-two years ago)

funk-famined environs of mid-60's England

what racist subtext is there to these comments!! why shdn't pale, acne-scarred private school educated boys from cambridge (nb: i share a school w/ syd) have the fonk?

― enrique (Enrique), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll tell you what though, compared to Good Charlotte et al Pink Floyd were fucking George Clinton behind the wheel of a '68 Caddy convertible.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I can see Bootsy Collins with a line like "That cat's something I can't explain"

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 14:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I think what's important to emphasize here is that, as orchestrated and programmed as their music was, there were sections in their music—"Shine On," "Echoes," "Any Colour You Like," etc."—that aspired to the jam. And there were songs, like the pseudo-disco stuff mentioned above ("Have a Cigar," etc.), that aspired to the funk.

And while they could jam to an extent, they never really succeeded in being funky, a la Gang of Four or something (which admittedly was a lot later on). And I'm wondering how that would have changed the way we look at them, whether we would maybe hold them in higher regard, had they been capable of pulling that off.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 15:41 (twenty-two years ago)

"Pigs (3 Different Ones)" sounds a bit like "Chocolate City"

― dave q, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:07 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a hugely funky part in 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' - all sax solos and anologue synth noises. 'Money' and 'Have A Cigar' also contain traces of da funk.

― laticsmon (laticsmon), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:10 (twenty-two years ago)

What If Pink Floyd Had Been Funky? they would have sounded like System 7, the Bassheads and William Orbit's Bassomatic

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

imagine if they punctuated their songs by periodically shouting "FLOYD EXPLOSION!"

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:19 (twenty-two years ago)

That bit with the organ in Atom Heart Mother is pretty funky.

― Jordan C, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:26 (twenty-two years ago)

...then they'd have been Weather Report!

― herbalizer12 (herbalizer12), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:30 (twenty-two years ago)

the bassline of "another brick in the wall (pt. 2)" is a straight-up bernard williams cop.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 16:38 (twenty-two years ago)

When I subbed for Danny Krivit at Laces, I put "Pigs (3 Different Ones)" between Weather Report's "Boogie Woogie Waltz" and Logg's "You've Got That Something." Needless to say, the people went nuts.

― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

They weren't usually funky in a "(Not Just) Knee Deep" sense, but there seems to be an odd parallel with their '71-'75 output and Isaac Hayes' first couple pre-Shaft solo albums -- really, really long downtempo jams, a distinct organ sound, usually minimalist if steady drumming, eerie R&B-styled female backup vocals. Half of Dark Side of the Moon sounds like "Walk On By" or "The Look of Love" with electronic effects instead of strings and some cat who didn't quite have Hayes' pipes singing about depressing psychedelic stuff. And I can't hear Gilmour's guitar on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" these days without swearing he had his own version of "Maggot Brain" in mind.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

You don't consider 'The Final Cut' funky?

― Pete S, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Half of Dark Side of the Moon sounds like "Walk On By" or "The Look of Love" with electronic effects instead of strings and some cat who didn't quite have Hayes' pipes singing about depressing psychedelic stuff.

That seems like wishful thinking, though I like the sentiment. My hunch is that Claire Torry makes that record LESS soulful than more so, however...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

You know who was funky? The Soft Machine were funky...at times. See, anytime anyone talks Pink Floyd, I'm gonna bring up The Soft Machine. I love both and love having little fantasies about them all hanging out and playing together and Syd saying let's take some acid and Kevin Ayers saying "Banana" but the Soft Machine could PLAY and when they weren't too proto-proggy, they were FUNKY.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

This has already been covered, but I can't keep my mouth shut. That part after the singing on "Echoes" is funky. Plus that's when you get to see the backs of all their speaker cabs that say "Pink Floyd London" on them.

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think some of you have heard too much "funk" music.

That part in "echoes" is just a stupid two-note vamp, there is no tension in that music. And Nick Mason is the most leaden drummer of any popular rock group ever.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)

And Nick Mason is the most leaden drummer of any popular rock group ever.

A bit harsh, don't you think?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

No, I think it's perfectly descriptive! His playing style fits their musical conception, and I like Pink Floyd. But I'd never in a million years consider him within the orbit of funk.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:48 (twenty-two years ago)

This discussion reminds me of 310's illegitimate "Prague Rock" ep. The Pink Floyd reconstruction was, as suspected, based on the funky middle part of "Echoes."

― doug watson (solid air), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

"And Nick Mason is the most leaden drummer of any popular rock group ever."

Whoever played drums in Kansas or Styx is much more unfunk than Nick Mason.

― earlnash, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel a tasteless "Robert Wyatt could outdrum Nick Mason w/ only two limbs" joke coming on...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 19:14 (twenty-two years ago)

they would have been can, then.

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 19:15 (twenty-two years ago)

(in answer to the original q)

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

matt, that joke is totally below the belt...

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Nick Mason from like Animals on always sounded like he was falling asleep behind the drumkit.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 20:09 (twenty-two years ago)

see, Earlnash, I'd probably disagree. It's like, take "Money", who someone mentioned upthread as Floyd in 'funky' mode. It's in 7/4, so must drummers would be like "whoopee, i can play something fun", but Mason doesn't draw attention to it, doesn't do anything with it; he just plods along on the 2 and the 4. You almost have to count measures to notice that it's not in 4/4. But this is fine! This is Pink Floyd's desired effect. They wouldn't be Pink Floyd if they didn't plod along like that. He makes the drummer from Kansas on "Carry on My Wayward Son" sound like Zig Modeliste on all the little turnarounds in that tune.

― Broheems (diamond), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 20:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Ah, Dan, I miss you...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Pink Floyd tried to sound funky from time to time, certainly, but for fuck's sake, I like them loads but they DID NOt KNOW ABOUT THE ONE.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Pink Floyd in "funk" mode ("Pigs", "Have A Cigar", "Any Colour You Like") = Steely Dan with a spock goatee?

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

What I said about "Run Like Hell":

It unsettles me somewhat to know that this song became a semi-sizeable classic rock staple even though in the scheme of things The Wall-wise it's a song about an orgy of right-wing fascist dictator-led violence. It's even more unsettling if you've seen the movie (advice to readers: do not see the movie), but look at it this way: Pink Floyd were always flirting with the funk; Dark Side of the Moon was their big halfway to Isaac Hayes thing and the guitars on the first half of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" are total whiteboy "Maggot Brain". This song here, divorced from the unpleasantness of The Wall's solipsistic teen-angst silliness, is Stalinist Parliament, replete with a Richard Wright keyboard solo that sounds like Bernie Worrell in severe need of exorcism. And if South African kids used "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" to protest schooling under Apartheid, then sure, this song can be reconfigured into a general diatribe against totalitarianism, too. Unfortunately I can't think of any groups today that could cover this in such a way to fit the Ashcroftian political zeitgeist. Maybe the Roots with Dizzee Rascal in the Roger Waters yelping maniac role.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:25 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't believe that no-one mentioned the end section of "One of Those Days"......

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

will be people be asking this question about radiohead in 20 years? will we then be pointing to "idioteque" and "the national anthem"?

― fiddo centington (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

And will Jess Harvell Jr. be laughing at them?

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Why does music have to be "funky"?

The answer is, it doesn't!

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:02 (twenty-two years ago)

geir do you like to dance?

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't dance but I love the funk, so that question is pretty pointless.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:28 (twenty-two years ago)

the question has a point indeed*, whether it's related to whether music (even pink floyd's) is funky or it. resist drawing conclusions so hastily mr. oops.

*does geir like to dance?

gygax!: mom, did you like the beatles?
gygax!'s mom: no, i liked the stones... you couldn't dance to the beatles.

(i think i've told this on this board elsewhere).

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:35 (twenty-two years ago)

wait, what was the point?
I've heard it asked of Geir before.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Radiohead aren't funky either... "The National Anthem" is a pissweak attempt to be Can, with a zillionth of the panache and groove of Czukay/Leibezeit.

Personally, it doesn't make much difference to me if the Floyd don't fonk, I never really listen to their albums whilst jumping up and down in a satin jumpsuit yelling "Take it to the bridge Roger!"

― steve, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

The Floyd rhythm section nitpickers do have some valid points I grudgingly have to admit... imagine what Bonham/Jones might have done with the 7/4 riff in "Money".

― steve, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

"He makes the drummer from Kansas on "Carry on My Wayward Son" sound like Zig Modeliste on all the little turnarounds in that tune."

This line is a funny. I can't psychically make the connection of Kansas playing a Mardi Gras party, unless it is held by the physics department at Tulane circa '82.

"Another Brick in the Wall" sounds like 'Mothership Connection' or Chic compared to "Point of Know Return" or Styx's "Fooling Yourself".

Upon further review, Styx may actually be more unfunk than anyone.

― earlnash, Tuesday, 25 November 2003 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

this is total bullshit. pink floyd were super funky.

― Noise Board Moderator, Thursday, 12 June 2008 07:53 (seventeen years ago)

"Have a Cigar!" HONK!
"Have another cigar!" HONK HONK!

― Mark G, Thursday, 12 June 2008 08:27 (seventeen years ago)

I don't think some of you have heard too much "funk" music.
That part in "echoes" is just a stupid two-note vamp, there is no tension in that music. And Nick Mason is the most leaden drummer of any popular rock group ever.

Broheems brings the truth

― Tom D., Thursday, 12 June 2008 08:59 (seventeen years ago)

But again, Pink Floyd were never supposed to be funky. Pink Floyd's music was made for home stereo sets, not for dancing.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 12 June 2008 12:01 (seventeen years ago)

Shut up

― Tom D., Thursday, 12 June 2008 12:01 (seventeen years ago)

although, at face value, yes.

― Mark G, Thursday, 12 June 2008 12:16 (seventeen years ago)

One of the best things about Floyd is how unfunky they were. And funk is awful anyway.

Yeah, "Have a Cigar" and the break in "Echoes" are definitely not funky. Roger Waters is perhaps the most unfunky human being that has ever lived. Ever heard The Wall demos?

― thirdalternative, Thursday, 12 June 2008 14:40 (seventeen years ago)

Roger Waters is perhaps the most unfunky human being that has ever lived

This is true.

And funk is awful anyway.

This isn't.

― Tom D., Thursday, 12 June 2008 14:43 (seventeen years ago)

i have a q for u third alternative did james brown ruin pop music in yr opinion???

― libcrypt, Thursday, 12 June 2008 15:18 (seventeen years ago)

Question: How funky is this album?

― C. Grisso/McCain, Thursday, 12 June 2008 15:40 (seventeen years ago)

I've got that album! The bass player from Magma's on it!

― Tom D., Thursday, 12 June 2008 15:43 (seventeen years ago)

No I like James Brown--I was thinking more along the lines of later funk, Parliment and the like.

And then there's funk metal...

― thirdalternative, Thursday, 12 June 2008 15:44 (seventeen years ago)

What bands are FUNKY, but they are seldom described that way?

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 12 June 2008 15:45 (seventeen years ago)

Floyd were plenty jazzy, and that's enough.

― Frogman Henry, Thursday, 12 June 2008 18:10 (seventeen years ago)

Could you imagine "Dark Side of the Moon" with a clavinet?

― Terrible Cold, Thursday, 12 June 2008 18:47 (seventeen years ago)

I think we got a version of Tito Puente on that one over on the drum geek sick chops youtube thread.

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 12 June 2008 18:53 (seventeen years ago)

I almost purchased "A Collection of Great Dance Songs" during my New Jack Swing phase in middle school.

― kingkongvsgodzilla, Thursday, 12 June 2008 19:23 (seventeen years ago)

here's the Rosebud version of Money http://robotsinheat.com/temp/Money.mp3

i also have another version by disco band Bob-A-Rela that's pretty great

― jaxon, Thursday, 12 June 2008 19:39 (seventeen years ago)

had no idea people from Magma were involved. pretty cool!

― jaxon, Thursday, 12 June 2008 19:40 (seventeen years ago)

Could you imagine "Dark Side of the Moon" with a clavinet?

http://accel23.mettre-put-idata.over-blog.com/0/00/48/63/disques/dub-side-of-the-moon.jpg

― Granny Dainger, Thursday, 12 June 2008 19:46 (seventeen years ago)

"What you gonna play now, Syd?"
"Roger, I don't know. But whatever I play, it's got to be funky!"

― James Redd and the Blecchs, Thursday, 12 June 2008 20:00 (seventeen years ago)

"Money", yeah not a funk cornerstone, but was certainly inspirational to a lot of 70s funk bands I gather. Not that "Money" was the first of its kind as far as its rhythm goes. still.

― Mackro Mackro, Thursday, 12 June 2008 20:19 (seventeen years ago)

it kinda was, it was in like 7/8 or something. kinda unheard of in chart rock

― jaxon, Thursday, 12 June 2008 22:54 (seventeen years ago)

Pink Floyd were never about rhythm, they were about pulse.

I mean, what were you expecting, a collection of great dance songs?

(I'll shut up now.)

― Hideous Lump, Friday, 13 June 2008 02:58 (seventeen years ago)

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